Five Ways to Spot an Emerging Business Trend

By Jill Sommers & Steve Lanning

Did you catch the story in Forbes about the 100 richest men or entrepreneurs in India were all billionaires?  Yep, not a single multi-millionaire among them.

What causes an entrepreneur to find a trend, have an idea and make a business out of it?

There are trends and then there are trends. Some business trends are huge, but not popular--as per the president of A T & T throwing a new product of a 'cell phone as a personal computer' under the bus in 2004.

Other trends are micro--say a new market for a specialized acne treatment.or a digestive supplement.

This is a beginning list. We came up with the list (which grew quite long) during a brainstorming session at QSBJ, but this will give you a start.

1. What markets do the top 10 (0r Top 25) sellers at Amazon.com cover as to both books and products could be useful for your business? 

2. What are some large over-arching trends in population demographics in Baby Boomers to the  new-born market that could impact your marketplace? Notice the huge increase in financial advisers and 'products for seniors' from 2006 when the first Baby Boomer turned 60. How could your business impact this demographic wave?

3.  What have been the changes in the top 10 (25-100) websites in your industry over the last year?

4.  Can you put together a list of the 10 (25-100) most popular headlines in the newsletters and magazines that impact your industry and related industries?

5.  What are some of the changes in the product or service offering that have been made over the last year to three years by your key competitors?

As mentioned, the list did grow too long for this article. Spotting an emerging business trend can be downright fun--and profitable once you let your mind flow on the subject!

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Article first appeared in www.QuadStateBusinessJournal.com